Polio Push

Franklin Roosevelt is not only the nation's No. 1 citizen but its No.1 victim of infantile paralysis. He is not only President of the U. S. but president of the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation. Warm Springs is close to the Roosevelt heart, but lately he has come to feel that poliomyelitis must be combated in a long & strong push on a national front.*

Before starting on his Western trip last week (see p. 11), the President announced that he had made plans for a new foundation which would be a national extension of Warm Springs. It will try to co-ordinate research on cause, cure and prevention; conduct a "broad-gauged educational campaign"; disseminate information to physicians. It will not be under the Public Health Service, will be financed, like Warm Springs, from the proceeds of the President's annual birthday balls.

The President said that the pressure of official responsibilities would prevent him from holding office or taking an active part in the foundation, but hinted that he might like to become its head after leaving the White House. The Foundation's personnel was not disclosed last week, but it was generally supposed that Keith Morgan and Basil O'Connor, both top men at Warm Springs, would occupy high posts.

* The U. S. Public Health Service last week reported 879 new cases for the week ending Sept. 18, a peak for the year which brought the year's total to 6,391 cases. With cooler weather, however, there was hope for a decline.

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